CSUB gets $350,000 grant to support teacher preparation program

Grant will pay for 140 educators to become certified in computer science

By California State University, Bakersfield

April 5^th, 2023

California State University, Bakersfield and Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) are partnering to address a critical need for local educators who are trained to teach computer science.

CSUB has received a four-year, $350,000 grant through KCSOS that will cover costs for 140 K-9th grade educators — 35 per year starting with this year’s cohort— to complete the university’s Computer Science Supplementary Authorization (CSSA) program and secure their enhanced teaching certification.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with KCSOS on a computer science teacher training grant,” said Jesus Esquibel, an instructor for the program. “These funds will positively impact our community of K-9th grade educators.”

While the grant is being administered by KCSOS, the funding was awarded to the office last year by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing as part of its CSSA Incentive Grant Program.

“This is another way for us to continue to expand our partnerships with the university and our school districts in a way that helps our community,” said Malaika Bryant, director of educator development for KCSOS. “This is a great opportunity to provide resources so that teachers in our community have an opportunity to further their learning and growth.”

One of the advantages of the grant is that it can support a program that has already been established and has proven to be successful.

“We’re not starting from scratch. We’re able to fit into it in a way that really leverages what is already a really strong foundation and take it to the next level,” Bryant said. “We have full confidence in this partnership and what they’re doing at CSUB. It’s already an excellent program that is providing teachers with the tools they need.”

The CSSA program, which is offered through Extended Education and Global Outreach, consists of four online courses taken over a five-month period, from March through August. The courses focus on computational thinking, programming, computers and communication devices as well as the impacts of computing.

The program was created two years ago by the Citizen Scientist Project (CSP) at CSUB, which oversees several initiatives aimed at helping K-12 teachers build up their competencies in the areas of computer science, science, technology, art, engineering and math.

“Computer science mindsets and competencies are increasingly essential to ensure our students are competitive for 21st-century jobs and that our community does not reinforce the digital divide, especially in rural areas,” said CSP Director Dr. Brittney Beck. “This program thus serves as a capacity-building initiative to help develop and sustain K-12 computer science pathways.”

Esquibel, who also serves as the assistant director for CSP, said the CSSA program was created to help fill a gap in teacher education that was identified in its work with local school districts.

“Although K-12 educators are passionately committed to helping their students navigate computer science fundamentals, most are doing so with very little formal training of their own. Training is almost non-existent for teachers who do not have a specialized degree in computer science,” he said. “Through this work, our focus has always been to grow educators that can confidently access the emerging technologies and tools to help democratize education and to increase students’ computer science knowledge in our county and beyond.”

From learning to teaching

Seventy educators have already received their supplementary authorization since the CSSA program began. One of them is Carla Recher, who teaches seventh and eighth grade at Piute Middle School in Lancaster.

She completed the CSSA program last year after she transitioned from teaching STEM to computer science at the school.

“I wanted to do it because I thought it would solidify my position,” she said. “I enjoyed it. The program let me know that I’m doing certain things right, and then it introduced me to some new things.”

One of those things was microbits, a pocket-sized computer used to help teach coding. After getting to explore the device through the CSSA training, Recher has brought it into her classes. The program also led her to add a physical computing component to her introduction to computer science class.

“It’s kind of energized me. I’m doing a lot of new things in my classroom now that I wasn’t before,” she said.

Balancing the CSSA program with her work responsibilities was challenging for Recher, but she said it was worth the effort. She has been encouraging other teachers to sign up for it.

“I’m glad CSUB is pushing to get more people credentialed in this way. I’ve been trying to get the word out in our district, and I know a few people signed up for it this year,” she said. “Even if someone doesn’t teach computer science, they can bring it into their classes if they really want to. It’s so important today for students to have computer literacy skills, so we need to bring it to the forefront.”

Getting more teachers like Recher to incorporate computer science into their classes is one of the primary goals of the grant and the CSSA program, according to Bryant.

“A lot of teachers taking these courses are getting their authorization because they’re interested and excited about taking that learning back and applying it to their classroom,” she said. “The goal is to get money to the teachers so we can build out a large community of educators across our county who are equipped to serve students in this realm.”

KCSOS plans to launch a new network this fall where teachers can discuss best practices for computer science learning and, in the process, create a countywide instructional support system focused on incorporating more of that content into teachers’ coursework.

“We want to continue to provide support to teachers and help each other learn and grow beyond that initial [CSSA] experience,” Bryant said. “I have full confidence in the efficacy of the teachers who leave that program with that authorization and am excited to see what they will continue to do in their school communities with that learning.”

Click here for more information about the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization program.

Piute Middle School TeacherCarla Recher holds up her certificate for completing the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization program at CSUB last year.

Students participate in computer science work.

Piute Middle School Teacher Carla Recher (first person from left, second row) completed the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization program at CSUB last year.

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Footnotes

Story by Joseph Luiz, writer/marketing and communications specialist; photos contributed by Brittney Beck, assistant professor of teacher education, and Piute Middle School Teacher Carla Recher

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FootNotes

Story by Joseph Luiz, writer/marketing and communications specialist; photos contributed by Brittney Beck, assistant professor of teacher education, and Piute Middle School Teacher Carla Recher